Nashville

I wish I was still there!

There's no way I can even begin to describe what a wonderful time I had...but I'll try to do my best!

Although it was a quick trip, I absolutely fell in love with this city and even more in love with my man. On our way home I even declared I'd move there in a heartbeat. It's that cool.

Trust me.

Or better yet, go there yourself!

Soo we flew out of Cleveland early Wednesday and into Chicago Midway for what was supposed to be a quick layover, but ended up being delayed for an additional 4 hours. Although it was a bummer that we weren't in Nashville like we planned, we made the best of it and continued our vacation, but in the airport.

There was a lot of this...

...but that was fine by me!




Finally, after a long day, we made it to warm Nashville and to our GORGEOUS Hilton hotel, right downtown. We were anxious to see what the city had to offer, so we cleaned up walked right around the corner to some really cool little country bars.

We literally hung out all night listening to the awesome live bands play song after song as we drank and relaxed. Hellooooooo Vacay!

After wayyyy too many drinks and some fabulous music, we crashed for the night.

The next morning we were excited to explore the city and did lots of walking around. We ate at a local brewery in downtown for lunch and then went from shop to shop and checked out what Nashville had to offer!

We decided against the touristy type things like Grand Ol Opry just because neither of us really had an interest and because it wasn't really close to where we were. Instead, we continued our plight of going in and out of different bars listening to music. I feel like we got really lucky and saw some awesome talent!

That night we went to a delicious restaurant called Demos and ate until we were stuffed. The man had a steak with spaghetti on the side and I had mozzarella chicken with spaghetti on the side. DE-LISH.

The next morning it was time to head to the airport and before we knew it, we were back in C-land.

If you haven't been to Nashville, you have to go!

Leaving on a Jet Plane

I'm sooo excited to be going to Nashville tomorrow for a fun little getaway with the boyf! I've been there once when I was in like 7th grade and I had just got my braces on and it was an absolutely awful experience...so I'm thinking this time can only be better, right?!

I'm most excited to explore the city with my man, go to delish dinners, drink fancy drinks, listen to live country music and check out the Nashville night life.

You know what else I'm excited for? The flights!

Yea, I'm serious...especially if we have this cool of a flight attendant...

How awesome is this guy?

Have a fabulous couple of days, I'll be sure to recap our trip on here when we get back!

Tight End

So I came across this video on youtube today because I was watching one of this girls other videos. You should check her out, she's seriously BOSS. So funny.

Anyway, I totally can relate to what she's saying....and if you've spent more than 10 minutes at the gym, you probably can too....

After all, " I wanna wear those scrunchy up-ass bikini bottoms...and then people will be like uhhh-huhhh"

White Chip Island Cookies

Happy weekend!

Today I vowed to myself that I wouldn’t be eating any candy or really any delicious sweets after yesterday when I was snowed inside (literally) all day and ate bottomless amounts of candy. Welllllll I found that bottom, so today I’ve decided to sort of “detox” from all the sugar and really focus in on fruits and veggies again.

With that being said, I was faced with a challenge.

It’s tradition in our family that every Sunday afternoon we have a delicious (read: unhealthy) meal after church with the whole family. Every weekend I get the task to make some sort of delectable dessert. I’m not complaining. I’ve actually been offended before when mom has just made a dessert and not asked me to do it. It’s my favorite part of every meal and everyone in my family knows that baking is “my thing.”

And that’s where my challenge comes in. I just wasn’t in the mood today to be eating sweets and with baking, I’m constantly test tasting.

I. can’t. help. myself.

So what does one do to deter oneself from eating batches of cookies while making them, you ask?

Put on a Proactive facemask, obviouslyyyyyyy.

You do that too, right? It’s completely normal.

Anyway, every week I try to come up with a different dessert to keep everyone on their toes. And because I like all desserts. Duh.

These cookies taste like a tropical vacation….in cookie form. Something about coconut gets me every time.

And if you’re anywhere even remotely cold right now, you probably could use a vacay….and should probably make these….stat!

White Chip Island Cookies (adopted from Nestle)

¾ c (1 ½ sticks butter) softened

¾ c packed brown sugar

1/3 c granulated sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 large egg

1 2/3 c all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

2 c (12 oz pkg) White morsels

1 c flaked coconut

1 c macadamia nuts, walnuts, or pecans

Preheat oven to 350.

Beat butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Beat in egg.

Add in flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into butter mixture. Stir in morsels, coconut and nuts. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto lightly greased baking sheets.

Bake for 10 minutes or until the edges are golden and lightly browned. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes before transferring to foil or wire racks.

Enjoy!

Everybody's Gonna Love Today

Becauseeee we just got hit with the biggest snowstorm of the year and I'm stuck inside all day today, I'm not really feeling motivated to do anything but wrap up in a blankie, hang out in my jammies and cook up something delicious.


I'm not complaining.



I should really get outside and do this....

 ....and I'm not referring to the crack or throwing up.

Welcome to my Nutshell!

Hi everyone and welcome to NutMeg!

If you’re wondering why there’s nothing else on this site yet, you’re onto me……this is my first post! Andddddd  maybe definitely  you’re my first reader…..ok, definitely my first/only reader. I’ve been toying with the idea of starting a blog for awhile and just now have finally worked up the courage to do it…..because anyone that knows me, knows I have a lot to say.

But I don’t want to just say stuff, I want to do stuff.

And that’s where this blog comes in.

It’s here that I hope to document my musings in regards to what I’m eating, cooking and how I’m moving. I’m a firm believer that balance is important in all areas of our lives, whether it’s relationships with family and friends, or it’s exercise and food.

With that being said, I love me some good food. There’s not a pizza I won’t try or a dessert I won’t make. I absolutely love cooking and I hope to share my favorites on this site.

As far as the exercise goes, I work out pretty regularly (4-5 days per week), and love the way it makes me feel strong and healthy. Some days it’s a struggle to make myself work out, other days I can’t wait to sweat out my stress.

Soooo, if you’re still with me, I would love for you to follow my journey...and help motivate me! I have a few goals that I’m hoping this blog will help hold me accountable to….and you, because you’re probably my only reader, remember?

Primarily my goals are going to be weight-loss based, with an overall focus on a healthy lifestyle...but I'll get to those as I progressively write more.

Thanks for stopping by!